Where Do We Go From Here?
I’ve had a lot on my mind for quite some time and I’m sure many of you can relate. Everything is just heavier this year. The pandemic, death, sickness, separation from others, police brutality, protests, racism, violence, arguments, politics. It all seems unbearable at times. And yet, here we are at the end of October. Those of us who have survived out of more than a million that have died worldwide. Those of us who have lost their jobs. Those of us just trying to stay afloat amid the chaos. Ignoring the news helps yet after awhile feels irresponsible. Although, choosing when, how long, and how you consume media is extremely important these days.
Most of what I want to speak on is me trying to figure out how to best move forward in this polarizing climate. Specifically, the politics of our time. I’ve only been able to vote in a primary election four times. In the beginning, I was young, naive, and had no idea what I was getting myself into. I’ve never connected well with our two party system and feel like it doesn’t give enough options. Picking one side or the other feels too definitive and absolute. I am not a woman of absolutes. I often wade in the vast gray sea of curiosity and speculation, understanding that answers aren’t always easy to come by and there’s a lot more complexity in the world.
Photo by Matt Hardy on Unsplash.com
We’ve become too isolated from one another. Our own social media feeds often represent an echo chamber of beliefs as we purge “friends” and family members who don’t share those same beliefs. As we cling to a particular party and align ourselves with them more and more, we push the other side away and begin to view them as the enemy - especially during an election season. Political scientists would now say that we’re not only polarized; we have also receded into “negative partisanship.” Both sides are at each other’s throats instead of figuring out how to work together. If you’ve ever voted for a candidate not because you necessarily support them, but more so because you despise the other side or fear the conservative/liberal running in the other party, you’ve acted as a negative partisan.
When you start following politics and when it’s in your face as much as it has been the last 5-6 years, it can become really maddening. I have so much anger…rage even. Perhaps you do too. And this should not be swept to the side as if the emotion isn’t worthy of attention. But we can’t get stuck in anger like the mud that it can become. Our proverbial boots must move forward through the mud and onto dryer land. Land made up of soil more vibrant and rich than our foremothers and forefathers because we’ve learned to till the ground better.
Photo by Jake Givens
Honestly, I think it’s going to get a lot worse before it gets better. In what I know about group cycles and looking at society as a whole, we might very well be headed toward a civil war. We’re certainly setting ourselves up for one. Many are actually already calling “their people” to be armed and ready. I have no idea how to feel about this except terrified. Sheer terror. Which is also an emotion I don’t want to get stuck in.
Netflix recently debuted a docudrama called “Social Dilemma” that is sounding a wake-up call to us all. We are becoming more and more divided and just the use of various internet platforms is part of this growing riff. And now, the social media giants are essentially being put on trial for their responsibility, not only in content that’s being paraded around but also for how they’re using us and manipulating us. The human brain and psyche is very susceptible. In the age of the internet, there is a lot of information - as well as misinformation - that is easily sharable, accessible, and clickable. If you have an email address, use social media, or visit websites then data is being collected about you in order to build a digital model of who you are: what you like, how you interact with certain topics/products, the length of time you stop to look at an image, etc. There are many issues we are facing when it comes to algorithms and social media but one major concern is how consuming misinformation, hateful messages, conspiracy theories, or concepts pushed by bots will continue to appear in a person’s feed the more they interact with them. It’s becoming harder to tell fact from fiction. There’s rapid consumption of information and rarely enough time made for debriefing what we are experiencing, viewing, or reading. It’s all a perfect storm, really. One that I don’t want to get caught up in. Nevertheless, if we choose to be a part of online communities and in person communities, we must approach this all with a bit more tenacity and clearheadedness.
So, where do we go from here? Election Day is upon us and just like any other election season, I will certainly be glad when it’s over. I have a strong feeling that this will end up much like the year 2000 situation (or worse) when America had to wait about three weeks before knowing who would be the next President. No doubt it will be a nail biter and a lot of people are really stressed about it. I’m not so sure I’ll stay glued to the TV this time around. There’s not much I can do at this point. I wasn’t really sure what to do before now anyway. It’s really hard to engage people in political discussions without it going completely off the rails.
As a society, we really need to pull it together. We've got a lot to work on. Who we put in office is undoubtedly important and I know that this election is unprecedented because of all that is going on. I understand the anger pouring out of you because I feel it too. I’m going to take a lot of deep breaths, drink a lot of water, take frequent walks to let the sun shine on my face, and cling to the wisdom imparted to me.
“When the earth is cracking behind your feet and it feels like the whole world is going to swallow you up, you put one foot in front of the other and you keep going. You go forward.”*
And onward we go, my friends. Onward we go.
*Bess Kalb, Nobody Will Tell You This But Me: A True (as Told to Me) Story - read an excerpt here.
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